I'm glad this app exists, but it needs work. My biggest trouble was with the innaccuracy of my location. The other issues that I had were: vehicle only roads weren't marked; the Reptile Trail was not clearly distinguished from the Reptile House, and there were a couple exhibits of large birds between markers 14 and 15 that I could see that were not on the app.
Stick with the paper map. Possibly it's just a bug with this version since older reviews seem fine, but it's a laughably terrible app. I had precise location enabled but it literally showed us on the polar opposite end of the park we actually were. Not all the animals were options to select to add to your itinerary. You can map the directions to specific animals but it won't determine the best route for what you have selected, which would make sense
Pretty much the only usable feature is the map since its nice to have your location. But otherwise there is no useful functionality. Doesn't tell you which exhibits are open or which animals are out. Doesn't have up to date menus for the dining locations. The list of animals glitched out for like half the day as well, not showing the orangutans as an exhibit when I was already standing in front of them. Also, the map is oriented 90 degrees off from the physical map for some reason.
The zoo is great. The app could be way better if it was interactive. Why select the animals that you want to see if you're not told where to find them? I thought the Planning portion of the app would take my preferred species to see and give me a tentative route to travel. Nope. It is only a list of species in the large park. a big thumbs down
I love the option to have our memberships and tickets on my phone. The map is really difficult to use from my phone because it doesn't include any of the markers which their print maps have, and their system to help guide you to a selected exhibit is a bit difficult as it's essentially just a blue line you have to try and orient yourself to follow. I also wish it was possible to plan your route based on the animals you wanted to see rather than just making a list in the Plan Your Visit section.
3 stars is a questionable rating but the reasoning is I use avenza maps as a base app and it's so much more accurate. having to sift and sort for tabs to find layers is not user friendly. yeah, it's a big park but the GIS layer sucks to be blunt and it could be much, much better. however the park is great and my family loved it. if the zoo really desired to go paperless since everyone has a phone, it could be much better!
Nearly useless. The locations of the animals must be constantly changing because where this shows you is sometimes where they are, sometimes the animal doesn't even exist (like the otters). Thankfully there were guests that regularly visit the zoo to help us find things, but even then, they even said the animals weren't there. The zoo is an amazing place with tons to see, but this app will make the visit worse.
Maps are useless. It will create an itinerary, which sounds good, in that it will suggest an order to go in if you click the animals you want to see. And it gives a little info about the animal. But the maps just show a paw print on a graphic with trees and a path. No context to where this square is in the entire zoo. No name of the path. Nothing at all is labeled. Nothing to guide you.
The navigation is very poor and does not track properly. Trying to use this map on the app is nearly impossible if you are using your location to walk the park. Also, the trails should be more identifiable on the app because they all look the same or are visible when the trail is not for visitors. On the upside, the app does accurately tell you what wildlife or other facilities are in the area.
The app and the physical map are hard to reconcile. If you look at the physical map its super easy to tell where you are based on the red marker locations. The app doesn't have those so you have to zoom in and out just to tell where you are which is really annoying. Very little info about shops and dining built into the app. No way to tell what the animals are until you click on them. Bottom line I would plan your route using the physical map and use the app as supplement.
